The Palestine Chronology

Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue. 1 Palestinian is shot dead by the IDF at Erez crossing. A 2d Palestinian, suspected of aiding the Ubayyat assassination on 11/9, is shot dead by a Palestinian gunman. A 3d Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier. 2 Egyptians are wounded by Israeli gunfire at the Rafah border. The convoy of UNHRC Robinson is fired on as she tours Hebron's Jewish enclave, damaging 1 vehicle. IDF tank fire, shelling are reported in and around Bayt Jala, Bayt Sahur, Bethlehem, Jericho, al-Khadir, Ramallah; the Jericho casino is severely damaged. In Gaza, several roadside bombs explode, causing no injuries; a Jewish settler opens fire on Palestinians, wounding 1. (AFP [Internet] 11/12; HA [Internet], NYT, WP, WT 11/13; MM 11/15)

The Clinton-Barak mtg. in Washington is delayed several hrs. when a Russian plane is hijacked to Israel in an incident unrelated to the Middle East crisis. When the pair finally meet, they make no progress toward halting the violence. Barak reportedly tells Clinton that Israel will not "sit idly on its hands" in the face of Palestinian actions, complains that the PA is trying to internationalize the conflict by getting the UN involved. Barak also raises the issues of supplemental U.S. aid, upgrading the U.S.-Israeli strategic relationship. (NYT, WP, WT 11/12; MM, NYT, WP, WT 11/13; HJ 11/14 in WNC 11/16; MM 11/15)

Arafat arrives in Paris on the 1st leg of a multination tour of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia to brief leaders on the Camp David summit, seek backing for PA positions, assess support for a unilateral declaration of statehood. After he meets with Arafat, Pres. Chirac phones Egyptian pres. Mubarak to discuss the summit. (MENA 7/29 in WNC 7/31; WP, WT 7/30; Le Monde 7/30 in WNC 8/1; CSM, JP [Internet] 7/31; al-Quds 7/31 in WNC 8/1; Le Monde 8/1 in WNC 8/2)

Over 500 Palestinian children fr. refugee camps in the West Bank, Lebanon travel to Fatima Gate, Israel's fmr. border crossing into s. Lebanon, to meet and call for the right of return. (BDL 8/3)

Pres. Clinton announces that he will meet Syrian pres. Asad in Geneva on 3/26 in hopes of restarting Syrian-Israeli talks. (MM 3/20; CSM, MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/21; MENA 3/21 in WNC 3/22; MM 3/22; MENA 3/21, Le Monde 3/22 in WNC 3/23; MM, WJW 3/23; MEI 3/24; JP 3/31) (see 3/1)

Pope John Paul II arrives in Jordan on the 1st leg of a 1-wk. Middle East tour, meets with King Abdallah. The pope's theme for the trip is that regional leaders should do more to reach a lasting peace, to promote Christian-Jewish-Muslim understanding. (MM 3/20; al-Quds 3/20 in WNC 3/22; CSM, NYT, WT 3/21; al-Quds 3/21 in WNC 3/23; MEI 3/24)

IDF soldiers open fire on a Palestinian car at a West Bank checkpoint, killing a woman, wounding her husband. The IDF shooting, which was apparently unprovoked, followed a drive-by shooting at nearby Tsurif settlement that wounded 4 Jewish settlers. (WP 3/21; WJW 3/23; MEI 3/24; NYT 4/21)

After another mtg. btwn. Arafat and Barak in Ramallah, this time attended by U.S. special envoy Ross, Ross announces that Israel, the PA will resume negotiations in the U.S. after Id al-Adha holiday ends on 3/20. The sides still aim to conclude a full final status agmt. by 9/13. Ross says there have been "constructive" talks on interim issues. (MM 3/8; NYT, WP, WT 3/9; ITAR-TASS 3/9 in WNC 3/14; al-Quds 3/9, DUS 3/11 in WNC 3/13; CSM 3/10)

Lebanese pres. Lahoud says Lebanon would guarantee security along the s. border after the IDF withdraws, but only as part of an overall Middle East settlement; warns that Palestinian guerrillas opposed to Arafat might attack n. Israel fr. s. Lebanon if the refugee issue is not solved. (XIN 3/8 in WNC 3/9; CSM, WP 3/9; NYT 3/12; Le Monde 3/17 in WNC 3/20)

Israel's High Court rules (4-1) that an Israeli Arab family cannot be barred fr. living in a cooperative Jewish community. Although the decision affects the 1 family only, the court's determination that separate Arab and Jewish communities are "inherently unequal" and discriminate against Arabs sets legal precedent that may be used in future cases. (NYT, WP 3/9; WJW 3/16; JP 3/17)

In s. Lebanon, 2 SLA mbrs. are killed in a clash with Hizballah. (MEI 3/10)

U.S. special envoy Ross returns to the Middle East to try to restart talks on the Israeli-Palestinian track. (AYM, al-Quds 3/7 in WNC 3/9; WP, WT 3/8)

Arafat, Barak secretly meet in Tel Aviv to discuss differences blocking renewal of their peace talks, especially implementation of the 3d stage of the 2d further redepolyment (FRD) outlined in Wye II. U.S. special envoy Ross does not attend. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/8; al-Quds 3/9 in WNC 3/13)

Syria's cabinet resigns. Pres. Asad names Aleppo governor Muhammad Mustafa Miru as the new PM, charging him with forming a new government to "modernize the administration." This is seen as a move by Asad to accelerate economic and social reform, to reduce the Ba`th party's political role (Miru is a low-level Ba`th official), to inject new blood into the cabinet and is not expected to affect negotiations with Israel. (CSM, MM, NYT, WP 3/8; MM 3/9, 3/10; JP 3/17; MEI 3/24; al-Majallah 4/10 in WNC 4/14)

Israeli police begin to investigate a complaint that Transportation M Mordechai sexually assaulted a female employee. Mordechai denies the charges, takes a leave of absence fr. his post to speed the investigation. (MM 3/7; MM, NYT, WT 3/8; WJW 3/9; WJW 3/16; JP 3/17)